LivingSocial may take $200M round instead of filing an IPO

Daily online deals startup LivingSocial might delay filing its initial public offering in favor of a new $200 million funding round, according to a Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

The fact that both LivingSocial and rival Groupon are rethinking their IPO strategies could signal a slow down in the market demand for daily deals across the board.

The potential round, which would value LivingSocial at $6 billion, could include both equity and debt, according to the report. Investment for the new round would come from existing and new investors.

Previously, LivingSocial was discussing an IPO valued at more than $10 billion. However, the stock market slump that began in July is causing the company to rethink its strategy.

Daily deals company Groupon has also been rethinking its strategy toward going public because of market conditions and questions of whether the company will successfully sustain a profit in the future (Groupon has yet to turn a profit since launching in 2008). Also, both Facebook and Yelp have scaled by their own daily deals efforts, reinforcing the notion that daily deals demand is declining.

Washington D.C.-based LivingSocial has pulled in $632 million in funding to date.

The company was not available for immediate comment about the potential funding round.